President of Social Signal and Seasoned Communications Strategist
For more than a decade, Rob Cottingham has helped organizations make the most of digital technologies to achieve their goals. From online strategies for national election campaigns to websites for small non-profit organizations, Rob works with clients to integrate new communications technologies with their traditional communication and organizing strategies.
That’s because Rob is also a seasoned communications strategist, working at senior strategic levels of government, labour and advocacy organizations for 18 years. He is an accomplished speechwriter, helping civic, labour and business leaders deliver compelling, engaging messages that move audiences and make headlines. And his powerful copy and concepts for ads and collateral have won international awards and, more importantly, deliver effective messages that make a difference.
Pioneering in the online arena comes naturally to Rob, whose digital history dates back to the days of BBSes and 300-baud modems and who launched his first web site in 1995. He built one of the earliest party leadership candidate web sites in Canada, launched the country’s first online political game, and oversaw the creation of an ambitious anti-tobacco website targeted to youth years before similar efforts became ubiquitous. More recently, he has:
- designed election web sites for federal and provincial sections of the New Democratic Party,
- directed a province-wide web campaign for a provincial labour union reaching out to stakeholders, and
- charted an online development roadmap for a Canadian non-profit organization wanting to take its web presence to the next level.
Rob believes strongly in sharing his skills and knowledge. Teaching everything from basic Internet skills to online advocacy, and from public relations fundamentals to speechwriting, Rob has provided training and facilitiation to government departments, senior labour communications specialists, political parties and conferences.
Rob maintains a long-running blog on technology and public affairs, has been a regular freelance contributor to CBC Radio, and draws the insanely popular Noise to Signal web comic.
Available Programs:
The Funny - This fast-paced half-hour keynote is part stand-up, part insight and part inspiration, as Rob skewers some of Web 2.0's most sacred cows. He finds the humour in everything from blogging ("This isn't just a preserve of young people any more. There are people right now blogging productively well into their early 30s.") to user agreements ("There's a reason the button says 'Submit'"). Rob gets at the heart of social media's power... while leaving audiences laughing.
Getting in bed with your online community - A Team Presentation with Rob's wife, Alexandra Samuel: You want your users to commit to your community? Then it's time to take your relationship with them to the next level - and Alex and Rob can show you how, with a high-energy workshop that gets literally everyone in the room contributing, laughing and learning how to motivate online participation. Featuring an actual bed, this session marries the knowledge and creativity of participants to the workshop leaders' extensive expertise in online community. The result: terrific ideas, unexpected insights... and a great time for all.
ROI/Tangible Program Benefits:
- Find Humor in Some of Web 2.0's Sacred Cows
- Getting to the Heart of the Power of Social Media
- How to Get Your Users Committed to Your Community
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